Rs 5,500 cr sought for sarva shiksha

NEW DELHI: The department of elementary education is being realistic in its demands for the budget. It has asked for an additional Rs 5,500 crore, that is over and above the interim budget allocation, to be used for the departmentâ€™s two constitutional commitments â€” sarva shiksha abhiyan and mid-day meals. However, the department is hopeful that it will get additional grants during the supplementary for programmes like the Kasturba Gandhi Swatantra Vidyalaya and other schemes targetted at education of girls. Sources say that many of these schemes would only be functional after the reconstituted CABE evaluates them, hence not receiving additional funds would not be a hardship for the department. For its flagship programme, sarva shiksha abhiyan, the department has asked for an additional Rs 3,000 crore. The interim budget had allocated Rs 3,057.08 crore for the programme. Of the total demand of Rs 6,057.08 crore, Rs 1,900 crore is in the form of external aid from the World Bank, European Commission and DFID. For mid-day meal, there is a demand for an additional Rs 2,500 crore. Bringing the total demand to Rs 4,175 crore, the interim budget had allocated Rs 1,675 crore. The department plans to extend the mid-day meal programme to the upper primary level at least. Sources in the ministry are quite hopeful that this time around these two programmes will receive adequate funds, as the UPA government has made education a priority area. The department hopes to receive additional funds later in the year for Kasturba Gandhi Swatantra Vidyalaya and teacher training programmes. The former focuses on education of girls from disadvantaged sections. The programme is yet to be implemented hence it will have to rely onthe interim budget allocation of Rs 5. Sources say that with the states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh stepping up teachers appointment and filling up backlog by August-September, it can be expected that the teacher training programme will use up substantial amounts of its interim budget allocation of Rs 207 crore by the time of the supplementary allocation. Sources say that some of the schemes, especially those which are yet to be fully implemented, may not take off immediately.

Rs 5,500 cr sought for sarva shiksha

The department of elementary education is being realistic in its demands for the budget.

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